


Follow Your Arrow

by Settiai



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, One Shot, Podfic Available, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 08:45:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16615715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai
Summary: There was a crossroads up ahead.





	Follow Your Arrow

There was a crossroads up ahead.

Jester slowed down as she made her way towards it. She was already walking slowly, but it seemed like a good excuse to slow down even more. Her feet were sore, and she was really starting to miss the horse that someone had stolen from her in the night. Who would steal someone's horse? It didn't make any sense. But someone had, so instead of riding she was now walking, which wasn't fun at all.

Growing up, she'd dreamed of leaving Nicodranus and going out to explore the world. Now that she was doing just that, she wanted nothing more than to be back in her room at home. She missed her mama, and she missed the The Lavish Chateau, and she missed... well, she missed many things.

She'd only been gone a few days, and she was already homesick. How was she going to stay gone for weeks, or months, or _years_?

Jester stopped walking abruptly, closing her eyes and focusing on just breathing in and out for a moment or two. When she finally opened her eyes again, her vision was slightly blurred. Her throat suddenly felt tight, and she could feel tears prickling in the corners of her eyes

"No, none of that," Jester told herself firmly. She'd made a promise to herself that she wouldn't be sad about having to leave, and she was going to keep it. This was an adventure. She should be excited.

She'd get to go home eventually, but she knew that it was for the best that she stayed away for now. Mister Noble Whats-his-name was mad at her because he didn't know how to take a joke, and she didn't want to cause any trouble for her mama. Well, any more than she already had, at least. She knew there were several people who weren't happy with her back in Nicodranus.

Everything would be fine. She was sure of it.

Jester reached up and roughly brushed at the corners of her eyes, getting rid of the moisture gathering there. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't. She'd already done enough of that the last few days. She was an adult. Mostly. It was time for her to act like it.

Shaking her head, Jester started moving towards the crossroads again. Now that she was closer, she could see a sign posted near the center of it with arrows on it pointing in various directions. It was showing where different towns and cities were located, she realized, as she read the words painted on the wooden arrows. Some of them she recognized and some she didn't, but they were definitely town names.

"Hmm," Jester said thoughtfully, stopping to take a closer look at the sign. "Where do I want to go?"

She hadn't had any real destination in mind when she'd left Nicodranus other than "away." She supposed it was time to make a decision. There were a lot of places she could potentially travel – the world was a really big place, after all – but she needed to pick someplace to go first.

Well, someone needed to pick, at least. Jester hadn't felt anyone else's presence in a while, but it never hurt to take a look around. How could you expect an answer if you never asked any question?

"Traveler, are you here?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder and keeping an eye out for any flicker of movement or a familiar shade of green. "Where do you think I should go?"

She looked around expectantly for a few seconds, but she didn't hear any familiar voice or see any signs of movement. With a sigh, Jester turned back towards the signpost.

Then her eyes lit up.

There was a blue ribbon wrapped around one of the arrows, the exact same shade of blue as her skin. Jester didn't have any doubts who had left it there, although it was very impressive that she hadn't heard him. She was very perceptive. Very. He must have been super quiet to sneak up and put a ribbon there without her noticing him.

"Thank you, Traveler!" Jester called out. "I know you picked somewhere fun!"

Nobody answered, not that she expected him to actually say anything. But she thought for a second that she heard quiet laughter coming from somewhere behind her.

Grinning broadly, Jester skipped over to the signpost. The arrow the Traveler had tied the ribbon around was near the top, and she had to get on her tiptoes and stretch as far as she could to reach it. It only took her a few tries, though, before she managed to get ahold of it.

She tied the ribbon around one of her horns, carefully fashioning it into a very pretty bow. Then she looked at the arrow it had been tied around to see exactly where she was heading next.

"Port Damali," Jester read slowly. Then her mouth twisted upwards into a grin. "Ooh, Port Damali! I've always wanted to go there." She looked around again, even though she still didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Thank you again, Traveler!"

Her feet were still sore, and she wasn't any less tired of walking than she had been when she'd walked up to the crossroads. But there was a flicker of excitement building in her that had disappeared along with her horse and carriage the night before.

She was going to Port Damali!

Jester didn't know what or who she was going to find there. She didn't know where she was going to stay, or what she was going to do, or what was going to happen next. But she had a destination. For the first time since she had left home, she knew where she was going and wasn't just wandering aimlessly. She had a plan. Well, sort of. She had the beginnings of a plan.

"I'm going on an adventure," she said, grinning up at the signpost. "I'm an adventurer!"

And then, whistling a song she'd heard her mother sing on many different occasions, she started walking. Port Damali was ahead of her, and she couldn't wait to find out who and what she was going to find there.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me over on Tumblr. (http://settiai.tumblr.com/)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Follow Your Arrow [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17190209) by [blackglass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackglass/pseuds/blackglass)




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